Wouldn't it be good to know exactly what your bank does with your money – who it is lending to, and what they are doing with it?

The global financial crisis has led to calls for banks to be more transparent, though it is hard to imagine being able to log on to the website of Barclays or Lloyds TSB and find out the names and addresses of every business and organisation they have lent to.

But that's just what ethical bank Triodos is doing. This week it launched an online tool so its 20,000-plus UK customers – and anyone else – can learn more about the hundreds of projects they are funding. Simply go to the site and search by keyword (such as organic, wind or fair trade), location or sector. Or use the map to zoom in on a region.

Perhaps best of all, it effectively amounts to a directory of companies and organisations that are trying to change the world for the better, as Triodos only finances those that create social, environmental or cultural "added value". These range from organic farms, renewable energy ventures and recycling businesses, to projects for the homeless and community cinemas.

Key in the first half of your postcode and the site will throw up a list of borrowing customers in your area. As of this week, there were 512 on the site. "We are lending to almost 600, and they'll all be on there eventually," says Charles Middleton, UK managing director. He adds that he thought he knew about all the Triodos-funded projects near where he lives, but there were a couple of which he wasn't aware of.

Depending on where you live, the web search may throw up the details of some well-known customers. For example, a Triodos loan helped food writer and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall renovate the 65-acre organic Park Farm at Musbury near Axminster, turning it into his new cookery school, River Cottage HQ.

Neal's Yard Remedies, the organic health and beauty company, is another famous customer. And Triodos has supported green electricity company Ecotricity since the bank helped finance its first turbine in Gloucestershire in 1996.

Middleton says there have not been any issues with customers not wishing to be publicised. "It's a good opportunity to show what they're doing."

He believes all banks should be obliged to go down this route and expose their investments online. Nevertheless, not all the projects will be to everyone's taste.

There are, as you might expect, plenty of wind farms, plus a number of religious and spiritual organisations – including the intriguing-sounding Community of the King of Love in Derbyshire, and the Glastonbury Goddess Temple in Somerset – and companies such as Zaytoun, a fair-trade co-operative established to create and develop a UK market for artisan Palestinian produce such as olive oil and dates.

Guardian Money decided to do a search of Triodos-funded organisations near our north London (King's Cross) office.

The online tool immediately threw back 20 names, including Village Underground, an innovative art project in Shoreditch that has transformed derelict London Underground tube train carriages into art studios; the Hoffmann Foundation for Autism in Finsbury Square; and Index on Censorship in Farringdon, an organisation promoting freedom of expression.

Bristol-based Triodos Bank does not offer a current account for UK personal customers (it does provide banking services to businesses and charities) or mortgages, but it has a range of savings accounts and investments including a cash Isa, children's account, regular saver, and a number of accounts linked to specific charities and good causes. However, the interest rates aren't good enough to get into our best buys.

This week, the bank also announced it was giving people an opportunity to invest in Triodos itself via a share issue. It aims to raise €90m as part of a European capital raising exercise.

"The money will be used to support further growth, so it can lend more money to ethical organisations," says a spokeswoman.